GIRLS ADDICTED MORE EASILY, STUDY FINDS

WASHINGTON (AP) -- Girls and young women get hooked on cigarettes, alcohol
and drugs more quickly and for different reasons from boys, and should
receive specialized treatment that reflects that, according to a study
released Wednesday. Teenage girls often begin smoking and drinking to
relieve stress or alleviate depression, while boys do it for thrills or
heightened social status, according to the National Center on Addiction and
Substance Abuse at Columbia University.

"(Girls) get hooked faster, they get hooked using lesser amounts of alcohol
and drugs and cocaine, and they suffer the consequences faster and more
severely," said Joseph A. Califano Jr., chairman of the center. Califano
said prevention and treatment centers need to design their programs to deal
with the risk factors leading to female substance abuse.

The study, based on a nationwide survey of more than 1,200 females age 8 to
22, found little difference in the percentage of boys and girls who smoke,
drink and use drugs.

Approximately 45 percent of high school girls drink alcohol, compared with
49 percent of boys, and girls outpace boys in the use of prescription
drugs, the study found.

Researchers determined girls also are more likely to abuse substances if
they reached puberty early, had eating disorders or were ever physically or
sexually abused. Their likelihood of using cigarettes, alcohol or drugs
also increases if their families move often or when girls advance from
middle school to high school or from high school to college.

The study faults alcohol and tobacco companies for promoting their products
by linking them to glamorous models, and calls for a ban in magazines with
large numbers of young readers.

Dr. Michael Nuccitelli, a psychologist who runs a substance abuse treatment
facility in Brewster, N.Y., questioned some of the study's findings. He
doesn't believe women become addicted to alcohol more easily than men,
noting there have been far more men than women in his alcohol treatment
program over the years.

"Clearly there are gender differences," he said, "but at the ages this
study is talking about, there's no gender differences in the importance of
peer acceptance."